SEHE Chapter 74

Fight

“Xiao Pei’er, what mischief are you thinking of now?” Tang Xizhui simply sat on the footstool by his bedside, watching him with great interest. “Confined in the Imperial Academy, surrounded only by poor scholars and old pedants who’ve read themselves silly, what could you possibly profit from?”

“As long as they’re human, they have value. Besides, don’t I still have you?” Pei Yanci’s body was soft and languid, lazily sprawled on the ivory mat, his head resting against the edge of the huanghuali wood bed. The vine pattern of “early birth of noble sons” pressed into his soft white cheek, the edges spilling over with flesh, round and plump like soft, sticky white sugar cake.

“What, always thinking of gaining benefits and taking advantage, but not planning to put in any effort?” His foot extended outside the bed, poking at his chest.

Before he could reach out to grab it, he retracted his foot back onto the bed.

Tang Xizhui helplessly lowered his hand. “If you rely on yourself for everything, at least give me a chance to cooperate.”

“Going to the Imperial Academy today, I did get some ideas.”

“So quickly?” Tang Xizhui raised an eyebrow. This person really didn’t give himself a moment’s respite.

“If I don’t stir things up, how can I achieve merit?”

Being an official was both for the people and for oneself. Without finding ways to achieve merit, there would never be a day of advancement.

So in his previous life, compared to those mediocre people full of talk about moderation, he preferred to use ambitious people who constantly earned merit for themselves. Inevitably, some of them would line their own pockets—as long as humans held office, they couldn’t control their private desires. This was unavoidable.

When the water is too clear, there are no fish. He couldn’t eliminate this.

As long as it was moderate.

As for those chickens that were too greedy, after fattening them up, when he had nothing else to do, he’d slaughter one or two. Occasionally supplementing his diet, giving them a scare—it was both refreshing and sobering.

Of course, the prerequisite was that he had absolute control and knowledge of the entire court.

His pale index finger extended, hooking onto Tang Xizhui’s lapel, neither pulling him closer nor pushing him away, just dangling there, restlessly stirring.

“The Zheng family can’t see my value now, so they won’t give me any support.” Pei Yanci sighed.

Thinking of the Zheng family’s attitude in his mind, he frowned and couldn’t help muttering, “Zheng Qinglai did it on purpose, throwing me into the Imperial Academy. A few days ago, do you know what he said? He said this position was respectable and leisurely, that I should go there to study properly, learn more characters, read more books, so as not to embarrass Gu Jiuqing. He was mocking me for being a servant, thinking my learning wasn’t good enough, deliberately disgusting me. Who wants this leisure and respectability… Today I didn’t see the Imperial Academy’s Chancellor, I’ll probe for information again tomorrow. Those erudite scholars won’t even talk to me, I encountered so many blockheads today… The Imperial Academy has two Vice Chancellors, one is me, and the other is surnamed Fang. Looking at him today, he also seems difficult to get along with…”

(TL: changing Imperial Academy Head → Imperial Academy’s Chancellor; Prefect → Vice Chancellor)

Tang Xizhui quietly listened to him talk. Seeing his eyelids gradually drooping, his voice becoming smaller and smaller, until only indistinct mumbling remained in his mouth, and finally his lips parted slightly with even breathing.

His eyes were full of adoration as he gazed at him. The night was quiet as water, and for a long while he couldn’t bear to blink.

Until Pei Yanci seemed uncomfortable, frowning and moving his neck, feeling some coldness and wanting to curl up. Tang Xizhui’s arm passed through his neck and the crook of his knees, carefully straightening his body and pulling over the nearby silk coverlet to carefully cover him.

His cool fingertips brushed across his forehead, gently sweeping his disheveled hair to the side.

Before, he was guarded against him, and even when sharing a bed wanted to pretend to sleep to get through it. Now he would chat idly with him, voice his complaints, and sleep deeply before him without any reservations. Did this mean that Xiao Pei’er actually already trusted him?

Tang Xizhui’s entire heart was both sour and swollen, both satisfied and unbearably hungry and thirsty.

Desire slowly expanded in his chest, squirming and bulging.

He had thought that after his bodily desires were satisfied, he would find this person nothing special, but the vines that stubbornly grew from corrupt darkness, after tasting the flavor of brilliant light, only wanted to seize more by any means necessary.

He had a premonition that one day, his heart would expand to its limit, finally burst open from the swelling desire, explode, and filth would flow freely, completely wrapping and devouring Pei Yanci.

On that day, he too would sink into depravity and perish along with that ray of light.

****

Pei Yanci slept soundly. The next day he rose early as usual, practiced martial arts for a shichen as was his custom, bathed and hastily ate breakfast before going to the Imperial Academy.

He had long forgotten what he’d said to Tang Xizhui later last night. He only vaguely remembered mentioning Zheng Qinglai—that man had been schemed against by him once, then turned around and trapped him in return.

The Great Yu’s Imperial Academy was different from Great Tao’s—it had little real power, only managing Anjing’s Six Academies and Two Halls, plus over two thousand children of nobility and power, and every three years assisting the Ministry of Rites in hosting the imperial examinations’ capital examination and palace examination. Ordinarily they still had to mind the Ministry of Rites’ Bureau of Ceremonies. Though the Imperial Academy’s Chancellor was a fourth-rank official, at most he was an existence revered in the hearts of scholars throughout the realm, but anyone who passed the imperial examinations and became a jinshi had better prospects than this position.

Following his memory, he went to sit in yesterday’s spot. He had expected to be bored stiff, but who would have thought that before his chair was even warm, an erudite scholar came looking for him, saying someone was looking for him.

Right now, besides the Imperial Academy’s Chancellor, he couldn’t think of anyone else who would be looking for him.

But following that erudite scholar as they walked to increasingly remote areas, even a fool could sense something was wrong.

“Where are you going? When the student who showed me around yesterday introduced the place, he said the location wasn’t here.”

“Almost there, just ahead. Chancellor Daren has some matters delaying him there.” The erudite scholar wiped the sweat from his forehead.

The June weather was vastly different from the Dragon Boat Festival—it was truly sweltering.

“Since Chancellor Daren is busy, I’ll go back first. When he’s free, we can talk then.” With that, Pei Yanci was about to turn back.

The erudite scholar hurriedly tried to grab him, but was easily dodged. After walking a few steps, Pei Yanci stopped in his tracks.

From the small paths around the student quarters emerged over twenty people, fifteen or sixteen years old, not much different from his age. He recognized the leader—it was the student who had bumped into him at the Imperial Academy gates yesterday.

Xu Du looked Pei Yanci up and down, sneered coldly, and jerked his chin at the person beside him.

The lackey beside him immediately tossed a purse to the other side. The erudite scholar hurriedly picked it up, stuffed it into his bosom, and quickly scurried away down one of the small paths.

“You’re far too arrogant. Do you have no regard for respecting teachers and honoring the Way?”

Yesterday he had heard Xu Du’s shouting at the gates. He didn’t know what rank his father held, but to casually say he would strip a sixth-rank Vice Chancellor of his office, he must also be from some aristocratic powerful family. As for today, getting an eighth-rank teaching erudite scholar to run errands and bring people—they probably did it even more easily and casually, just opening their mouths.

“Respect you as teacher? If I bowed to you as master, wouldn’t you be afraid of losing years off your life? You’re about my age, you just latched onto the Zheng surname’s coattails, and that’s how you rose to the sky in one step.” Xu Du pointed at him with a great laugh. “Do you all know? This person was originally a filthy, lowly servant, not even worthy of carrying my shoes. Now he’s climbed above our heads, telling us to respect him as teacher? Simply the greatest absurdity under heaven!”

The people following him laughed loudly.

Pei Yanci leisurely crossed his arms. So yesterday he specifically sent someone to investigate him—truly troubling this young dandy master.

“How is it that the Imperial Academy even accepts dogs now? Truly accepting all comers. At least it’s supposed to be the model academy of the realm, but now it doesn’t even have basic dignity. Hey, hurry up and bark a few times for this young master to hear. This young master might just spare you today.”

With that, the twenty-some people paced around the outer circle, surrounding him completely.

“Don’t say such things about yourself.” Pei Yanci said indifferently.

Xu Du was stunned for a moment, then said incredulously to the young masters around him, “He called me a dog?”

Those lackeys didn’t dare pick up that line.

Xu Du visibly flew into a rage, charging forward in one stride and aiming a kick at Pei Yanci’s waist and abdomen.

Pei Yanci had practiced martial arts and was much more agile than ordinary people. He easily dodged the kick, then grabbed his calf and yanked, causing him to do a split on the spot. With another kick of his toe, Xu Du’s entire body flipped and fell to the ground in a face-plant, his chin painfully knocking against the ground as he howled.

“Now you look even more like it.” Pei Yanci said mockingly, his gaze sweeping around.

The remaining people all stepped back in unison, their hearts trembling in fear as they looked at him

Between two student quarters, a figure flashed past on the small path directly facing them.

Pei Yanci just happened to look up and see it. Though it was only an instant, he saw clearly—Fang Qingdu walking past here.

“Vice Chancellor Fang, Vice Chancellor Fang?” He called out several times.

Before long, a person appeared at the other end of the small path.

“Vice Chancellor Pei is busy?” That person had no choice but to stop and walk back.

“These students said they wanted to beat me. This matter is truly a marvel for the ages. It just so happens Vice Chancellor Fang is passing by—come listen to this amusing tale together.” Pei Yanci waved with a smile.

Since you’ve come, come get “beaten” together.

“There may be some misunderstanding.” Vice Chancellor Fang said. “Student Xu is the only son of the Cavalry General. The General guards the frontier, and the entire Xu family are heroes and martyrs. He wouldn’t be so unruly.”

Pei Yanci laughed. Was this person reminding him of Xu Du’s background?

“A family full of heroes and martyrs—Pei here respects your father as a true man, but you…” He shook his head.

“What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and beat him!” Seeing his tone and expression, Xu Du became even more flustered and exasperated, pointing from afar at the person who had been standing beside him. “Qiu Xiu, you go first!”

A young master about fourteen years old pointed at himself in shock and bewilderment: “Me?”

“Young Master Xu, why don’t we just forget it? He’s our teacher, and he’s from the Zheng family. Who knows how he’ll make things difficult for us later.” Another person timidly advised.

Xu Du was helped up from the ground and irritably shook off their hands. “What Zheng family member? Never mind just an adopted son—even if it were a Zheng family branch member standing before me, this young master must beat him today no matter what. Today, anyone who doesn’t dare charge forward—if anyone bullies you here in the future, I won’t care.”

With that said, those who originally didn’t want to act began to hesitate.

At this moment, Fang Qingdu stood between the two sides, his expression still as stern and rigid as before.

“Let me say something fair,” he said. “Setting everything else aside, in the Imperial Academy, we simply discuss teacher and student relationships. Today, Student Xu, you’ve gathered a crowd to cause trouble here—you’re in the wrong. But this matter originally started with Vice Chancellor Pei offending someone, wrong from the start. As a teacher, you should first set a good example for students. The apology you didn’t make yesterday, make it today.”

Pei Yanci sneered coldly. “Your words are truly ‘fair.'”

“If the apology had been made on the spot yesterday, it could still have been settled, but at this point in time, impossible!” Seeing Fang Qingdu siding with him, Xu Du’s expression became even more smug. “Today, if I don’t beat you until even your father doesn’t recognize you, I won’t be surnamed Xu!”

With that, he led his subordinates charging forward.

Fang Qingdu’s expression turned stern, about to dodge, but his robe hem was grabbed and pulled.

“Vice Chancellor Fang handles matters fairly. Surely now you won’t stand by and watch someone die, abandoning me to run away?”

“This is the trouble you stirred up. What does it have to do with me?” He said, shaking his sleeve to run.

But delayed by this, Vice Chancellor Fang lost the chance to escape. In the chaotic center of the crowd, how could he avoid those fists and feet? He cried out miserably “You’ve got the wrong person!” while curling up on the ground with his head in his arms.

“What are you all doing!”

“Chancellor Daren!”

The Imperial Academy’s Chancellor was an elderly man with graying eyebrows and an inch-long beard, over sixty-five years old. His great shout was full of vigor, and the hearts of everyone present couldn’t help but tremble.

“Urp~” Then, he let out a great belch reeking of alcohol.